While many types of transfer devices or apparatus have been devised and employed for the transfer and transport of articles or workpieces during various manufacturing operations, none of the previously known devices or apparatus have been found to be suitable for the transport or conveyance of articles in such manner as to require that the device or apparatus possess the capabilities of the apparatus of the present invention. So far as is known in this regard, the functions of the apparatus of the present invention have been achieved previously only by manual transfer movements and positioning of the article or workpiece.
More particularly, during the manufacture of the funnel and faceplate components which form the envelope of a cathode-ray tube, such as a television tube, numerous operational and manufacturing steps are required which necessitate the transport and conveyance of both the funnel and the faceplate components to and between various different locations and work stations. While the transport and conveyance of these components have in many instances been mechanized to reduce or avoid the time and effort previously expended in manually conveying such components between various operational locations, the nature of some of the manufacturing operations have been too complicated to be readily susceptible to the utilization of automatic article transfer devices or apparatus. One exemplary operation during the manufacture of the funnel component of a cathode-ray tube is that of insertion of an anode button in the wall of the funnel component. In such an operation, it is crucial that the anode button be precisely and exactly located in the wall of the funnel component. Moreover, while different sizes and shapes of funnel components have different anode button locations, such precision of the anode button location must be maintained for each of the various and numerous types and configuration of funnel components undergoing anode button insertion. Heretofore, the precision placement and positional orientation required for such anode button insertion operations have precluded the effective employment of automated transfer apparatus capable of reliably transporting, positioning and orienting the funnel component at the anode button insertion station, and having the additional capability of providing sufficient orientational versatility to accommodate the widely varying positional and orientational requirements of the many different shapes and sizes of cathode-ray tube funnels ordinarily processed in normal manufacturing operations. Accordingly, the need for such an automated funnel transfer apparatus has, so far as is known, remained to be fulfilled by the transfer apparatus of the present invention.